You are signing up for... East Lawn on October 1, 2018

Back Gardeners Volunteer Teams Click here to view the list of Garden volunteers and team assignments.

Back Gardener Volunteer Options:

1. Garbage & Recycling – Empty garden garbage cans and recycling bins on a regular basis from April through October.

2. Composting Kitchen Scrap- For this job, you must be available one Saturday a month, March through July OR August through December, to staff compost collection, and you will need to have a compost lesson before you start.

Composting Garden Cuttings – For this job, you must be available one Saturday a month, April to September, to assist moving and arranging garden twigs, leaves, cuttings.

3. Summer Sidewalk Sweeping – Sweep the sidewalk in front of the garden on a regular basis, from April through October.

6. Public Events – A range of jobs, including coordinating a garden events (4th of July Picnic, Ninth Avenue Food Festival, May Pole celebration, Harvest Celebration, special events, etc.); helping with shopping, setup and takedown, or food serving; and chaperoning approved private events, such as a wedding ceremony.

7. Open Hours Hosting – Welcome visitors and supervise the front garden when the gate is open on Saturdays and Sundays from April to October. You must be available for a block of 2 to 3 hours on a Saturday or Sunday during this time.

8. Night Lock – Unlock the front-gate padlock every morning and lock it in the evening. Hours vary depending upon time of year, daylight availability or weather, year-round, according to a daily schedule (team members have assigned days). You may select morning, evening or both.

9. Tool-Shed Maintenance – Clean up the tool shed on a monthly basis or as needed. This also includes the area around the tool shed

10. Maintenance -Refinish benches, clean up graffiti, make repairs, fix hoses, etc. You’ll be contacted as needed and also be asked to be backup for other maintenance teams.

More About Hosting:

Our garden is required by the City to remain open to the public for 20 hours a week. We’ve chosen 10 hours each on Saturday or Sunday. During this time the gate must remain open and secured in an open position, but not padlocked open, in case we need to close it in an emergency. We’ve tried a variety of clips and other means to hold the gate open, but those items have been removed or stolen.

Even though we must leave the gate open, it often poses a problem if there is no host on duty to watch over the garden, advising visitors of our rules and to attend to violators (dogs, running children, smokers, etc.)

For this reason we are re-doubling our effort to have gardeners in the front-garden more hours and in greater numbers serving as “hosts”. We are asking every gardener, regardless of what other tasks you may already be assigned to, consider being a garden host for a few hours on weekends. we’re not asking for a regular commitment or for a long shift, just do what you can and according to this schedule. It’s a great time to just be in the garden to read or write, or work, but to also be present during open-gate hours to be our eyes and ears. You can also do a little work on your plot, but with a watchful eye and primary attention to the front area and gate.